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Tech Tip of the Week: Phone Scams

There is a resurgence in computer phone scams–calls that get the user to reveal credit card information or open their computer up for hackers. Here’s what you should know.

The scams we’ve heard of usually start with an assertion that the caller is from Microsoft, and/or a reference to a computer running Windows in the house. The caller then might request a credit card number (supposedly to activate software), or tell the user that there’s a virus on their computer and instruct them to type in commands to the computer.

These calls can be effective because they take people off-guard. We all know to carefully analyze emails that ask us for personal information, but when we answer the phone there’s less time to think.

Fortunately, once you know about the calls it’s easier to avoid falling for them than it is to avoid email scams. Why? Because there is no legitimate reason that Microsoft or any other entity would make an unsolicited call to ask you for payment or to get you to fix a problem on your computer. Period.